In a world where no one can keep a secret, the hardest part was getting the countless people required to pull it off to stay quiet about it.
An absolutely ridiculous objection. See:-
Compartmentalization, in information security, whether public or private, is the limiting of access to information to persons or other entities on a need-to-know basis to perform certain tasks.
It originated in the handling of classified information in military and intelligence applications. It dates back to antiquity, and was successfully used to keep the secret of Greek fire.[1]
The basis for compartmentalization is the idea that, if fewer people know the details of a mission or task, the risk or likelihood that such information will be compromised or fall into the hands of the opposition is decreased. Hence, varying levels of clearance within organizations exist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compartmentalization (informationsecurity))
I would very much like you to stop pretending that a practice which "dates back to antiquity" was not yet mastered in 2001.